Novell Filr 1.1 User guide

Brand: Novell

Model: Filr 1.1

Category: Software

Type: User guide

www.novell.com/documentation

How Filr Works–Overview Guide

Filr 1.1

November 21, 2014

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Contents 3

Contents

About This Guide 7

1 Filr Overview 9

1.1 What Is Novell Filr? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

1.2 Filr Features and Functionality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

1.3 Why Novell Appliances? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

2 Setting Up Filr 13

2.1 Getting and Preparing Filr Software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

2.1.1 Hyper-V . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

2.1.2 VMware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

2.1.3 Xen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

2.2 Deploying Filr Appliances. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

2.2.1 Small Filr Deployment Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

2.2.2 Large Filr Deployment Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

2.3 Initial Configuration of Filr Appliances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

2.3.1 Small Filr Deployment Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

2.3.2 Large Filr Deployment Configuration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

2.4 Filr Clustering (Expanding a Deployment) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

2.5 Integrating Filr Inside Your Network Infrastructure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

2.5.1 A Small Filr Deployment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

2.5.2 A Large Filr Deployment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

2.6 Ports Used in Filr Deployments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26

2.7 There Are No Changes to Existing Servers or Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

3 Filr Administration 29

3.1 Filr Administrative Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

3.2 Ganglia Appliance Monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

3.3 Updating Appliances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32

3.4 Certificate Management in Filr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33

3.5 Filr Site Branding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

4 Access Rights and Filr 35

4.1 Filr Authentication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35

4.2 Access to Files and Folders Is Controlled by the File System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36

4.3 How Users Get the Required Access Permissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36

4.3.1 Roles and Net Folders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

4.3.2 Roles and Shared with Me. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37

4.4 Access Through Filr Involves One of Four Possible Roles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

4.4.1 My Files (Personal Storage) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37

4.4.2 Home Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

4.4.3 Net Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38

4.4.4 File Attributes Are Always Honored. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39

4.5 Role Requirements Are Rigidly Enforced. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

4.5.1 NSS Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

4.5.2 NTFS Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41

4 How Filr Works–Overview Guide

4.6 Rights to Files and Folders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41

4.6.1 Access Is Always Controlled by the File System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

4.7 Sharing Rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43

4.8 Windows Share Rights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44

4.9 Access-based Enumeration (Windows). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44

5 Filr Comments 45

6 Filr Email Notifications 47

7 Filr Indexing and Searching 49

7.1 What Is Indexed and When . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49

7.2 About Filr Content Indexing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50

8 Filr Licensing 51

9 My Files (Personal Storage) 53

9.1 Understanding My Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53

9.2 Enabling Personal Storage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54

9.2.1 Personal Storage for All LDAP Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

9.2.2 Personal Storage for Individual Users and/or Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

9.3 Restricting Disk Space Usage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56

9.4 Home Folders Vs. Net Folders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56

9.5 My Files Sharing Rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56

10 Net Folders 57

10.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

10.2 Specifying Net Folder Servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59

10.3 Specifying Net Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

10.4 Net Folder Proxy Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

10.4.1 The Functions Facilitated by Net Folder Proxy Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63

10.4.2 Rights Required for Net Folder Proxy Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63

10.4.3 Net Folder Proxy User Passwords. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

10.5 Granting Access to Net Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64

11 Protocols and Filr 67

12 Sharing through Filr 69

12.1 Setting Up Sharing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70

12.1.1 System-Level Sharing Must Be Set Up First . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70

12.1.2 My Files Sharing Is Automatic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71

12.1.3 Net Folder Sharing Must Be Explicitly Allowed At Two Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

12.2 Understanding Roles and Sharing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73

12.2.1 User Roles and Sharing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74

12.2.2 Users Can’t Grant Share Roles That They Don’t Have . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74

12.2.3 File System Rights Also Affect the Ability to Assign Share Roles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74

12.3 A Caution Regarding the Re-sharing Feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Contents 5

13 Filr Synchronization 77

13.1 Synchronization Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77

13.2 Net Folder Synchronization Detail Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80

13.3 Net Folder File Content Indexing Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

14 Network Time and Filr 83

15 Viewing Files as HTML in Filr 85

16 Users and Groups with Filr 87

16.1 Leveraging the Built-in Security of eDirectory and Active Directory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

16.2 Provisioning Users and Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87

16.2.1 User Provisioning Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87

16.2.2 Types of Filr Users. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89

16.2.3 The Role of Groups in Filr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90

16.3 LDAP Proxy User Role and Rights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90

A Documentation Updates 91

6 How Filr Works–Overview Guide

About This Guide 7

About This Guide

This guide contains high-level overviews of Novell Filr and covers the following topics:

 Chapter 1, “Filr Overview,” on page 9

 Chapter 2, “Setting Up Filr,” on page 13

 Chapter 3, “Filr Administration,” on page 29

 Chapter 4, “Access Rights and Filr,” on page 35

 Chapter 5, “Filr Comments,” on page 45

 Chapter 6, “Filr Email Notifications,” on page 47

 Chapter 7, “Filr Indexing and Searching,” on page 49

 Chapter 8, “Filr Licensing,” on page 51

 Chapter 9, “My Files (Personal Storage),” on page 53

 Chapter 10, “Net Folders,” on page 57

 Chapter 11, “Protocols and Filr,” on page 67

 Chapter 12, “Sharing through Filr,” on page 69

 Chapter 13, “Filr Synchronization,” on page 77

 Chapter 14, “Network Time and Filr,” on page 83

 Chapter 15, “Viewing Files as HTML in Filr,” on page 85

 Chapter 16, “Users and Groups with Filr,” on page 87

 Appendix A, “Documentation Updates,” on page 91

Audience

This guide is intended for Novell Filr administrators.

Feedback

Please use the User Comments feature at the bottom of each online documentation page to comment

and suggest improvements to this guide and the other documentation included with Novell Filr.

Documentation Updates

The most recent version of this guide is available here (http://www.novell.com/documentation/novell-

filr1/filr1_overvw/data/bookinfo.html) on the Novell Filr Web site.

Additional Documentation

For other Novell Filr documentation, see the Novell Filr Web site (http://www.novell.com/

documentation/novell-filr1/).

8 How Filr Works–Overview Guide

Filr Overview 9

Filr Overview

Today’s workers expect to access work files like they do personal files.

Some of them are moving work files to cloud-based services, which causes their risk managers to

lose sleep.

Novell Filr offers modern file access without compromising existing security systems.

 Section 1.1, “What Is Novell Filr?,” on page 9

 Section 1.2, “Filr Features and Functionality,” on page 10

 Section 1.3, “Why Novell Appliances?,” on page 11

1.1

What Is Novell Filr?

Novell Filr provides file access and sharing, and lets users access their home directories and network

folders from mobile devices and the Web. Users can also synchronize their files to their PC and Mac

computers. They can also share files internally and externally, and comment on files.

Figure 1-1 Mobile Access to Enterprise Data

 Users: Filr lets you control the following:

 User authentication inside and outside your organization

 Access to organization files and folders that were previously accessible only through

mapped drives

 Access to personal files and folders in Filr-based storage in addition to traditional Windows,

OES, and NetWare home directories

 Internal and external sharing of files and folders

 Access Devices and Methods: Filr provides multiple access methods.

 A Web (browser-based) application

 An app for Apple iOS 6 (and later) personal devices

 An app for Android 2.3.X (and later) personal devices

 Clients for Windows XP, Windows 7, and Windows 8 workstations

 A client for Macintosh OS X 10.7, 10.8, and 10.9 workstations

 Filr Virtual Appliance:

 This runs on VMware, Xen, and Hyper-V hypervisors.

Access Devices and Methods Filr Virtual Appliance Existing File ServersUsers

Internal

External

10 How Filr Works–Overview Guide

 It lets users authenticate using their eDirectory and Active Directory usernames and

passwords.

 It provides access to data on NetWare, OES, and Windows servers that use native file

protocols (NCP and CIFS).

 Existing File Servers: Are not impacted because Filr does the following:

 Requires no changes to file servers

 Honors file system trustee rights and attributes

Your Novell and Windows file servers and directory services retain complete control over all

file- and folder-related activity.

1.2

Filr Features and Functionality

Figure 1-2 shows Filr’s main features in the context of your existing network infrastructure. The table

that follows the figure briefly describes each feature and how all of the components shown fit together

to provide Filr services.

Figure 1-2 What Filr Provides

eDirectory

Users

Active

Directory

Users

Firewall

Filr Access

Devices

My Files

Net Folders

Synchronization

Sharing

Filr

NetWare Server

Windows Server

OES Server

Filr Data Disk

Comments

External

Users

Other

Internal

Users

B C

Filr Overview 11

1.3

Why Novell Appliances?

Novell appliances simplify the Novell development and delivery model for Filr so that we can provide

you with new services more quickly.

Novell appliance benefits include the following:

 Simplified Deployment: Filr appliances are built on specific and tuned operating systems

(SLES 11 SP3 in the case of Filr 1.1). This means that you don’t have to install the operating

system, select the packages, and so on because everything needed is included and ready to

configure and run.

Letter Details

 eDirectory and Active Directory: You synchronize Filr with eDirectory and Active Directory

identity stores through LDAP. See “Synchronizing Users and Groups from an LDAP Directory” in

the Novell Filr 1.1 Administration Guide.

 Local Users: You can create users on the Filr system independent of any LDAP source. For

more information, see “Creating a New Local User” in the Novell Filr 1.1 Administration Guide.

 External Users: When a user outside the organization responds to an invitation to share a file or

folder, Filr creates a username using the invitation’s email address. When users accept these

invitations, they can set their passwords. For more information, see “Sharing Files and Folders”

in the Novell Filr 1.1 Web Application User Guide.

Filr lets users access files and folders through the following:

 A Web (browser-based) application

 Apps for Apple iOS 6 and later and Android 2.3.X and later

 Clients for Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 8, Macintosh OS X 10.7, 10.8, and 10.9

workstations

Filr is designed to work with your security infrastructure. Your firewalls continue to protect your data

while Filr provides access to it from practically anywhere. For more information, see “Site Security” in

the Novell Filr 1.1 Administration Guide.

Filr lets users collaborate by supporting user comments on files and folders. For more information, see

“Filr Comments” on page 45.

Filr lets users access their personal files and folders on either or both traditional home directories and

local Filr storage. For more information, see “My Files (Personal Storage)” on page 53.

Filr lets users access your organization’s files and folders that were previously available only through

mapped drives. For more information, see “Net Folders” on page 57.

Filr lets users search for files and folders that they have rights to access. If indexing is enabled on a

folder, they can search within the content of the folder’s files as well. For more information, see “Filr

Indexing and Searching” on page 49.

Filr lets users share files in Net Folders, and files and folders in My Files, with internal and external

users. For more information, see “Sharing through Filr” on page 69.

Filr lets you synchronize eDirectory and Active Directory users as well as files and folders according to

your organization’s needs. For more information, see “Filr Synchronization” on page 77.

Filr provides access to storage on Novell file servers, Windows file servers, and personal storage on

the Filr appliance.

12 How Filr Works–Overview Guide

By the same token, packages and services that aren’t needed aren’t included, and therefore they

don’t consume system resources.

 Simplified Management: Appliances include the following:

 Appliance-specific configuration wizards to configure exactly and only what is required.

 Web-based administration tools for changing configurations, adding or provisioning users,

and so on, from basically anywhere that you need to be.

Setting Up Filr 13

Setting Up Filr

This section presents high-level overviews of the following setup tasks. For detailed setup information

and instructions, see the Novell Filr 1.1 Installation and Configuration Guide.

 Section 2.1, “Getting and Preparing Filr Software,” on page 13

 Section 2.2, “Deploying Filr Appliances,” on page 16

 Section 2.3, “Initial Configuration of Filr Appliances,” on page 18

 Section 2.4, “Filr Clustering (Expanding a Deployment),” on page 21

 Section 2.5, “Integrating Filr Inside Your Network Infrastructure,” on page 23

 Section 2.6, “Ports Used in Filr Deployments,” on page 26

 Section 2.7, “There Are No Changes to Existing Servers or Systems,” on page 27

2.1

Getting and Preparing Filr Software

The process of getting and preparing Filr software is straightforward, as illustrated in the following

sections.

 Section 2.1.1, “Hyper-V,” on page 13

 Section 2.1.2, “VMware,” on page 14

 Section 2.1.3, “Xen,” on page 15

For more information, see “Installing the Filr Appliance,” “Installing the Search Index Appliance,” and

“Installing the MySQL Database Appliance” in the Novell Filr 1.1 Installation and Configuration Guide.

2.1.1

Hyper-V

Figure 2-1 Downloading and Preparing Novell Appliances for Hyper-V

appliance-

version

.vhd.zip

Novell

Authorized

Reseller

download

.novell

.com

Unzip

the le

This is the system disk.

As you create the

appliance VM in Hyper-

V Manager, you connect

to this as the VM’s boot

disk.

B C

.vhd

14 How Filr Works–Overview Guide

2.1.2

VMware

Figure 2-2 Downloading and Preparing Novell Appliances for VMware

Letter Details

You can download the

.zip

archive files for the Hyper-V build of the three Novell Filr appliances

(Filr, Search, and MySQL) directly from the Novell Download Site, or you can obtain them

through your Novell Authorized Reseller.

Unzip the archive to expose the appliance system disk image. For more information, see

“Installing the Filr Appliance,” “Installing the Search Index Appliance,” and “Installing the MySQL

Database Appliance” in the Novell Filr 1.1 Installation and Configuration Guide.

The

.vhd

file is a Hyper-V disk image that contains all of the appliance’s system files.

You connect to this file in Hyper-V Manager by selecting the Use an existing virtual hard disk

option.

Unlike VMware and Xen, no pre-configured settings file is supplied for the VM. Instead you

specify the RAM, network card, additional disks, and so on as instructed in the Novell Filr 1.1

Installation and Configuration Guide.

Letter Details

You can download the

.zip

archive files for the VMware build of the three Novell Filr appliances

(Filr, Search, and MySQL) directly from the Novell Download Site, or you can obtain them

through your Novell Authorized Reseller.

Unzip the archives to expose a folder that contains the three files needed for deployment. For

more information, see “Installing the Filr Appliance,” “Installing the Search Index Appliance,” and

“Installing the MySQL Database Appliance” in the Novell Filr 1.1 Installation and Configuration

Guide.

appliance-

version

.zip

Novell

Authorized

Reseller

download

.novell

.com

Unzip

appliance-version

.mf

.ovf

.vmdk

For verifying the

integrity of the

download.

The initial appliance

conguration settings.

You deploy this in

VMware.

The system virtual

disk.

B C

Setting Up Filr 15

2.1.3

Xen

Figure 2-3 Downloading and Preparing Novell Appliances for Xen

The

.mf

file contains an SHA1 digest that VMware uses to verify the integrity of the other two

files.

The

.ovf

file contains the virtual appliance’s configuration settings. You open and deploy this

file in VMware to create the Filr appliance. You modify its settings during the initial deployment

phase.

The

.vmdk

file is the virtual appliance’s (VA’s) system virtual disk and contains all VA system

files. It comes ready for the initial start-up and configuration.

Letter Details

You can download the

.zip

archive files for the Xen build of the three Novell Filr appliances

(Filr, Search, and MySQL) directly from the Novell Download Site, or you can obtain them

through your Novell Authorized Reseller.

Untar the archives to expose a folder that contains the two files needed for deployment. For

more information, see “Installing the Filr Appliance,” “Installing the Search Index Appliance,” and

“Installing the MySQL Database Appliance” in the Novell Filr 1.1 Installation and Configuration

Guide.

The

.raw

file contains the system disk image. You open this file in Xen to begin the deployment

process

The

.xenconfig

file contains the virtual appliance’s configuration settings. You modify its

settings during the initial deployment phase.

appliance-

version

.xen.tar.gz

Novell

Authorized

Reseller

download

.novell

.com

Untar

the le

appliance-version

.raw

.xenconfig

The appliance system disk

image.

You open this in Xen.

The VM conguration

settings.

Xen automatically looks

for this le.

B C

16 How Filr Works–Overview Guide

2.2

Deploying Filr Appliances

After you have obtained and extracted the appliance software, you need to deploy it on your VMware

host server, as illustrated in Figure 2-4 and Figure 2-5 and as explained in the tables that follow them.

For more specific information about the different deployment models, see “Planning the Deployment

Type” in the Novell Filr 1.1 Administration Guide.

 Section 2.2.1, “Small Filr Deployment Overview,” on page 16

 Section 2.2.2, “Large Filr Deployment Overview,” on page 17

2.2.1

Small Filr Deployment Overview

NOTE: After initial VM preparation is completed, deploying on Hyper-V and Xen is comparable to the

VMware steps illustrated below.

Figure 2-4 A Small Deployment of Filr on VMware

Letter Details

Using the vSphere client, access the VMware host server and deploy the

.ovf

template file.

Specify the hostname and IP address. If possible, the system determines the mask and

gateway, and automatically populates those fields.

The network interface is bridged by default. Make sure this setting matches the network

configuration in your VMware environment.

A second disk is needed for the following reasons:

 Adequate personal storage disk space—personal files are stored here.

 Separation of system and data files to facilitate appliance updates—data files are stored

here.

You might want to also change the RAM allocation and the number of CPUs.

A third disk is needed for storing log files, which prevents the system disk from running out of

space.

Start the appliance.

vSphere Client

and VMware Host

Server

.mf

.ovf

.vmdk

Log disk (/var)

(mandatory)

Virtual Machine

Conguration

Settings

Virtual Appliance

VMware Host

Basic Appliance

Settings

Power

Edit

Appliance

Running

● Add a Hard Disk

● RAM

● CPU

● Passwords

● Network

● Time

Filr, Search, and MySQL

Set

Data disk (/vastorage)

(mandatory)

Setting Up Filr 17

2.2.2

Large Filr Deployment Overview

NOTE: After initial VM preparation is completed, deploying on Hyper-V and Xen is comparable to the

VMware steps illustrated below.

Figure 2-5 A Large Deployment of Filr

Specify the appliance’s basic configuration, which includes administrative users’ passwords, IP

address settings, and the time zone and NTP time source.

These settings are common to all Novell appliances.

Letter Details

Using the vSphere client, access the VMware host server and deploy the

.ovf

template file.

Specify the hostname and IP address. If possible, the system determines the mask and

gateway, and automatically populates those fields.

The network interface is bridged by default. Make sure this setting matches the network

configuration in your VMware environment.

vSphere Client

and VMware Host

Server

Filr-version

.mf

.ovf

.vmdk

Log disk (/var)

(mandatory)

Virtual Machine

Conguration

Settings

Virtual Appliance

VMware Host

Basic Appliance

Settings

Shared disk

(if clustering)

Power

Edit

Appliance

Running

Data disk (/vastorage)

(mandatory)

Data disk

(mandatory)

Filrsearch-version

MySQL-version

Same process as Filr

● Add Hard Disks

● RAM

● CPU

● Passwords

● Network

● Time

Same process as Filr

Appliance

Running

Appliance

Running

Filr

MySQL

Set

Data disk (/vastorage)

(mandatory)

Log disk (/var)

(mandatory)

Log disk (/var)

(mandatory)

18 How Filr Works–Overview Guide

2.3

Initial Configuration of Filr Appliances

After you have deployed the appliances and set a few basic system settings, such as passwords, you

must perform an initial appliance configuration. The process varies, depending on which deployment

scenario you are implementing.

 Section 2.3.1, “Small Filr Deployment Configuration,” on page 18

 Section 2.3.2, “Large Filr Deployment Configuration,” on page 19

2.3.1

Small Filr Deployment Configuration

Starting and configuring an all-in-one Filr appliance is quite straightforward, as illustrated in Figure 2-

6 and explained in the table that follows it.

A second disk is needed for the following reasons:

 Adequate personal storage disk space

 Separation of system and data files to facilitate appliance updates

You might want to also change the RAM allocation and the number of CPUs.

A third disk is needed for storing log files, which prevents the system disk from running out of

space.

If you are clustering the Filr VA, add a shared CIFS or NFS disk to all of the Filr VAs in the

cluster to use.

This only applies to the Filr VA, not to the Search or MySQL appliances.

Start the appliance.

Specify the appliance’s basic configuration, which includes administrative users’ passwords, IP

address settings, and the time zone and NTP time source.

These settings are common to all Novell appliances.

If you are installing separate appliances, you need to deploy at least one and preferably two

search appliances as well. The process is very similar to a Filr VA deployment, except that the

search appliances don’t use shared storage.

Installing separate appliances also requires configuring a MySQL or MS SQL database.

Deploying the MySQL appliance that comes with Filr is very similar to the process for Filr and

the search appliances.

If you already have a MySQL or MS SQL database in your organization, you can use it instead

of the MySQL appliance that comes with Filr.

Letter Details

Setting Up Filr 19

Figure 2-6 Configuring an All-in-One Filr Appliance

For more information, see“Configuring a Small Deployment for the First Time” in the Novell Filr 1.1

Installation and Configuration Guide.

2.3.2

Large Filr Deployment Configuration

Starting and configuring the appliances for a large deployment is more involved than for a single

appliance. However, the process is well documented and also very straightforward, as illustrated in

Figure 2-7 and explained in the table that follows it.

Notice that the order of working with the three appliance types is reversed from the order in Figure 2-

5 on page 17.

Letter Details

Access and configure the Filr appliance through a browser.

Run the configuration wizard.

When you finish, your all-in-one appliance is running and ready to provide Novell Filr services.

Web Browser

Connected to

Virtual Appliance

https://ip_address:9443 vaadmin/password

● Small Deployment

Administration

Welcome Screen

Conguration

Wizard

All-In-One

Filr Appliance

Filr

Administrator

Filr, Search, and MySQL

B C

20 How Filr Works–Overview Guide

Figure 2-7 Configuring Separate Appliances

Letter Details

First, access and configure the Search appliances through a browser, logging in to the

administration console, and running the configuration wizard.

When you finish this step, your Search appliances are running and ready to provide indexing

services for Filr.

For details, see “Installing the Search Index Appliance” in the Novell Filr 1.1 Installation and

Configuration Guide.

Filr

Administrator

Web Browser

to Search Appliance

https://ip_address:9443 vaadmin/password

Administration

Welcome Screen

Conguration

Wizard Search Appliance

● Click New

● Create Password

(Lucene User)

● Click Submit

Web Browser

to MySQL Appliance

https://ip_address:9443 root/root

Administration

Welcome Screen

Conguration

Wizard

MySQL Appliance

● Add user = filr

● Host = filr_hostname_

or_ipaddress

● Password = Password

● Select Create Database

with Same Name ...

MySQL

root/password

Administration

Welcome Screen

Conguration

Wizard

Filr Appliance

Web Browser

to Filr Appliance

https://ip_address:9443

Pick an Option

● Large Deployment

MySQL Configuration

● Host Name = mysql _

hostname_or_ipaddress

● User Name = filr

● User Password = lr_

mysql_user_password

Search Configuration

● Host Name = search_

hostname_or_ipaddress

● Lucene User Password =

lucene_user_password

● Default Locale = filr_

locale

Filr

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Novell Filr 1.1 User guide

Brand: Novell

Model: Filr 1.1

Category: Software

Type: User guide

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Novell Filr 1.1 User guide

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